Non-refillable bottle.



L. W. ALEXANDER & J. W. HALL. NON-REFILLABLE BOTTLE.

APPLICATION FILED APB..10, 1911.

1,017,490. Patented Feb.13,1912.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH Co wASmNG'raN, u c.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

LEWIS WALLAoE ALEXANDER AND JOHN WILLIAM HALL, or AUCKLAND, NEW

. ZEALAND.

NON -B,EFILLABLE BOTTLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, LnwIs WALLAcn ALEXANDER and JOHN WILLIAM HALL, subjects of His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain andIreland, residents of Auckland, in the Provincial District of Aucklandand Dominion of New Zealand, gentleman and merchant, respectively, haveinvented a Non-Refillable Bottle, of which the following is aspecification.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a bottle, which, whenemptied, or partly emptied, cannot again be filled, with fluid of anykind.

In the retail sale of spirits and wines it is known that bottles whichhave carried spirits or wines of well known brands, after being emptiedof the same, are again filled with spirits or wine of an inferiorquality, which are sold per the medium of the bottle'as the brand whichis asked for by the consumer.

This non-refillable bottle is projected to prevent such fraudulentpractices and to insure that the consumer shall have perforce the brandsupplied to him which he asks for or demands.

The improvement lies in the neck of the bottle, which is contractedabout midway its length, and again where it joins the body of thebottle, and between the two contractions a bafile given a turretedformation is placed in the manner hereunder indicated, but before thisballie is introduced into the neck, an inverted cone shaped valve formedsomewhat like a top is let down into the neck, so that it will seatitself on the slope of the lower contraction. The under part of thevalve is shaped somewhat like a peg, but is longer and broader and isprovided with a bulb and it projects down into the bottle. The battleitself is internally fitted with a hard substance, preferably glass andcorrugated, the object of this fitting and the construction of the neckand parts above referred to being fully detailed and their purposeexplained in the description which follows hereunder.

The drawing comprises two figures, of which Figure 1 is a verticalsectional view of part of a bottle and its neck, showing the improvedvalve and stopper in place; and Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View ofthe baflie.

The bottle A is shown broken and in section, its neck B being contractedat 0 about halfway down its length, and being again contracted at Dwhere it joins the body of the bottle. The effect of the top contractionis to create an external groove or annular formation E and an internalshoulder G, and with the lower contraction an external groove or annularformation F and an internal seating H. An inverted cone shaped valve Jis provided to be placed within the neck B, so that said valve will fallto and rest on the seating H. Valve J is given a formation somewhat likea top, and it has its under or lower part K shaped like a peg but longerand broader, with a bulb shaped end M.

In the neck B between the upper contraction C and the lower contractionD, there is placed a bafile, whose outer member or shell N isconstructed of vulcanite or rubber or wood or any other suitablematerial that will permit a degree of compression and is given aturreted formation, the upper ends of its arms P being projectedinwardly, so as to form catches It. The inner memberor body S of thebaffle is formed of a hard substance, preferably glass, and is providedwith corrugations O and with an external shoulder I. Said body isadapted to be forced into the outer member, so that the shoulder I willengage the catches R, whereby the said body S will be held firmlyembedded.

To give efiect to the invention, the bottle A is first filled with theliquid it is to carry; then the valve J is let into the neck B until itrests on the seating H, when the bulb end will project down into thebottle A and the fluid therein, if-the bottle be filled to that eX-tent. After this the shell member N of the battle will be passed intosaid neck until its lower end N comes near to the top of the valve J,but does not necessarily touch it. The construction of the said shellallows for compression, so that the arms P will be squeezed inwardly asthe shell is being passed in and down the neck, until said arms passbelow the shoulder G, when they will be relieved from the compressionand will open out to contact with the inside of the neck, below theshoulders G. The shell N having been thus placed in position, the.

glass body S will be let down into the shell until the shoulder I passesbelow the catches R which will engage said body and hold the same firmlyin position within the shell, the purpose of so fixing the part S beingto prevent the possibility of the battle being withdrawn from the neck Bby any means whatsoever. The top of the body S is made with thecorrugations O to assist the outward flow of fluid. When the operationthus detailed is completed, the bottle is corked and kept so until itscontents are required for use.

To put the bottle A into use, the cork is withdrawn in the usual way,and the liquid poured out as wanted; this is done by tilting the bottleup so as to point the neck opening down below the horizontal, whereuponthe valve J will move from the seating H sufliclently to let the fluidin the bottle flow therethrough, and on through the openings between thearms P and between the corrugations O, and then out through the openingof the neck B; when sufficient fluid has been poured out, the neckopening of the bottle A is lifted up above the horizontal and the valveJ at once engages the seating H which prevents any further outflow offluid from the bottle. The bulb M being thickened and weighted preventsthe valve J from tipping while the opening of the neck B is kept abovethe horizontal line.

So long as the valve J fits to the seating H, no fluid can escape orpass from the bottle or be let into it, and the valve cannot be unseatedexcept at the above named angle, at which no fluid can be passed intothe bottle; neither can the valve be withdrawn, because the baflleoverlying it prevents its being reached, and especially so as the fitting of the body S internally of the battle in the manner abovedescribed prevents the passage of any form of implement in the neck Bbeyond said body and thus the valve J is kept intact in the positionassigned because it cannot be tampered with.

The body S may be made plain and without corrugations, but preferablythe corrugated form will be used. No substance is used in themanufacture of any portion of the apparatus which is corrodible or willin any way be detrimental to the flavor oi the contents of the bottle.

Having fully described our invention, what we desire to claim is 1. In anon-refillable bottle, the combination, with a neck having upper andlower constricted portions, of a battle movable in the space betweensaid portions and comprising an outer shell of yieldable materialprovided with a series of catches, and an inner body of rigid materialdisposed within said shell and formed with a shoulder engaged by saidcatches, said body being adapted for insertion into said shell after thelatter has been introduced into said space.

2. In a non-refillable bottle, the combination, with a neck having upperand lower constricted portions, of a battle movable in the space betweensaid port-ions and'comprising an outer shell provided with a series ofcatches, and an inner body of rigid material disposed within said shelland formed with a. shoulder engaged by said catches.

3. A non-refillable bottle, the combination, with a neck having upperand lower constricted portions, of a baflle movable in the space betweensaid portions and comprising an outer shell provided with a series ofupstanding arms having their free ends turned inwardly to producecatches, and an inner body of rigid material disposed within said shellbetween said arms and formed with a shoulder engaged by said catches.

4:. In a non-refillable bottle, the combination, with a neck, of abattle movable therein and comprising an outer shell provided with aseries of spaced yielding arms having terminal catches, and a vitreousbody disposed within said shell between said arms,

GEORGE WVILLIAM BARLEY, I-IILDA MAY FRoUDn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

